Tabula rasa

Thursday, September 28

Bars on the windows? An alarm system?

Or just give up and move?

I'm 95% kidding with the last question, I think it would be dumb to run away. The thought is tempting though. Why all the fuss, you ask?

I'll tell ya. You've all heard that last week the car was stolen from right outside of our house and that last night our doorbell rang and then there was nobody there. Ringing a doorbell then running away is a prank, I know that doesn't have me so bothered.

Tonight I talked to my neighbor to let her know about the car being stolen. They actually have a Lexus and an Audi, I would have thought that those would have been taken over a Sebring. I wanted to let her know so her stuff could stay safe. She was sorta shocked that the car was stolen but then went on to tell me that the house on her other side was broken into today. In broad daylight.

Nice, huh?

Luckily, another neighbor across the street saw the guy walk across some yards and up the driveway and into the window. She called 911 and the police were there and caught the guy as he was leaving out the back door. The police had him at gunpoint and he still thought about running. He was high and all he stole was some cash (needless to say it was recovered). He lives in a town about 35 minuts from here and this wasn't his first offense.

It was just two houses down. And, I was home. Alone. With the boys.

Overreacting? Perhaps.

I'd rather keep my boys safe than overlook these things.

Update: Come to find out there are 2 or 3 other houses on the block that have all been broken into lately as well. Creepy.

Wednesday, September 27

Ring 'n Run

Our doorbell rang tonight at dinnertime. Josh was rather perplexed when he went to the door and noone was there. There was no sign of anyone. Anywhere.

He came back in and promptly checked the back door. Noone was there either.

Needless to say he made sure the house was locked. After the events of last Wednesday and the car being stolen, well, we're both a little jumpy now. (I know alot of people have said that it was probalby some random punk that stole the car, but the ignition was punched out. That's not random in my books!)

Next step? I'm planning on making curtains for the front and back doors. I've only been meaning to do this since we moved in over six months ago. Way back when I didn't think Wal-Mart was so evil I got some denim $1/yard fabric and soon it will be curtains. :)

Monday, September 25

No love for the boys

This afternoon after lunch the boys and I walked to the grocery store. We had to go and finish up the grocery shopping for the next few weeks, so we hoofed it the 4 blocks. That is, they rode in the stroller as I pushed it.

All in all it was an uneventful trip. Normally when I take the boys out people smile and say hi or make comments about how busy I must be. Not today. It was strange! People looked, noone smiled or said hi or said anything for that matter. It was very strange. The only person who said hi was this guy sitting outside the store. But then again, the only reason he said hi was because Zander yelled, "Hey, HI!", to him first.

Sunday, September 24

Feeling a bit violated and just a wee bit scared

I've never had anything substantial stolen before. To be honest, I still have not. That is not making me feel any better about this though. Let me explain...

One evening after Josh returned home from work, he promptly parked his car. It's still sitting in the driveway, waiting. Waiting for a new fuel pump. It could be waiting for a little while, but that's another story. He drove my car to work and back for 2 weeks.

On the 15th of this month Josh asked about a company car. See, they have a car that just sits at the office. It's used when the president of the company comes into town, or when the VP needs to use it. Ok, so basically when the car needs to be used, it is. Josh was given permission to use the car until he was able to get his car fixed, or someone else needed the car on a more urget matter.

The car, you ask?

A 2006 Chrystler Sebring, soft top convertable. Custom rims. CD changer. Yeah, you get the picture. It was a sweet looking car.

Josh drove it on the 15th, it sat in our driveway over the weekend. Then drove it to work and back on Monday. Tuesday Josh went into work a bit later than usual knowing that he had a late meeting at the office. After the meeting he went out to eat with some people from work and wound up getting home sometime around 10:30pm. I was already in bed asleep. When Josh came in we talked for a few minutes and he came to bed shortly thereafter. All was right with the world.

At some point during the night I heard a car start up directly in front of the house. I'm usually paranoid enough that I'll get up and investigate. This time I did not, I told myself to stop being so paranoid and to just go back to sleep. I didn't even look at the clock to check the time.

I should have looked out the window, it was less than 2 feet away. I should have looked at the time on the clock, but again, I did not.

Fast forward to 9am on the 20th.

Josh and I are getting the kids ready so I can take MiKael to his doctor appointment. When the boys were dressed Josh went to take his work stuff out to the Sebring. You've probably guessed by now, but it was gone. Not there. Vanished.

The police were called, report made. The officer that came said that he was not positive about the return of the car, usually they tell people to give it a couple of days. But this is a "hot car". He says that the people who stole it will likely drive it around for a long time for bragging rights. Or that the car had been stripped for parts and was junked out already.

By 5:30 Wednesday evening Josh had gotten a call from the police saying they had found the car. It had, in fact, been stripped. No wheels. No CD changer. Nothing of value was left at all. Banged and scratched up, but they found it.

After I heard that they found the car I sort of breathed a sigh of relief. But then, I started to think about it all. Processing. Josh had only been driving the car for five days. That means...someone was watching our house (watching my house!) or someone followed Josh home (followed him home?!). I suppose it could have been random, but what are the odds? The thought that someone followed him home that night...the thought that someone was watching my house, the place where my kids are...it's just a bit un-nerving.

By the way, MiKaels appointment? He's still a runt! He weighs in at 16lbs 4oz and something like 26 and a quarter inches long. That puts him in the 4th and 10th percentile! All except his head, which is the 70th percentile...yikes.

Tuesday, September 5

Great day!

Well, the week from Hell is officially done and gone! Last week (for those of you who have not heard about it) was simply awful. Both of the boys were major whiners making it difficult to get anything done around here. Late in the week I gave up even trying. It was that bad.

But then, the weekend came.

I was not looking forward to the 3 day weekend given our past history of just awful weekends. I was afraid things would go horrible as they had in the past. I should not have feared!

Josh was off. And not only that, but he was really off. I couldn't believe it but his work phone didn't ring! Not once. It was great!

Saturday we got up "late" and made brunch and played with the boys. Before we knew it, it was time for their nap! And both boys actually napped, I was in shock! Josh and I got to spend some time together like we have not in a while. It was so nice just to hang out, anyone know what I mean?

Sunday we got the boys up and went to church. This week we went to a "new" church (new to us) and while I absolutely loved how they had things set up for the kids, I'm not sure we'll be going back there. Yes, the kids stuff was good but the service wasn't quite what we were looking for. We may go back again this weekend and see if we just caught a fluke day. After church we came home and did the lunch thing and put the boys straight down for a nap. They were both being really good but it was obvious that they needed a rest. Josh and I got to hang out again!! :-) When the boys were up from naps we read books and played with them til it was time for dinner and then bed.

Monday we got up really late and had lunch! Yup, you read that right. We got up just in time to eat lunch! With lunch over we plunked MiKael in the stroller (Zander walked and the soccer ball sat in his place) and walked to a park that we'd not been to yet. The park we went to was an older park and was so much fun. It had a set of 4 swings some things to climb through and then a single slide. Oh, the slide! The slide was one of those that has somewhat steep steps going about 18 feet or so. It was made of metal instead of plastic which means you whizzed down the spiral slide. You should have heard Zander giggle! We got a few pictures which I'll post when Josh emails them to me ;-)

Now, today things have been great! The boys have only whined their normal amounts and I've had a productive day! I've gotten all the housework done and I made cornbread to go with dinner. And a chocolate cake. Both from scratch!

I actually can't wait til tomorrow! Long walks and a trip to the park are in the plans.